Justice and Truth
by LockleyFan
Summary: England is rotten and Lady Anne of Locksley won't stand for it. RR. WIP.


Lady Anne of Locksley, who was more affectionately called 'Annie' by those she cared about, prowled through her brother's village, her cloak billowing out around her ankles, her hood pulled up, casting shadows over her face in the pale glow of pre-dawn.

The village was quiet. No one was out and about. Annie shook her head. Back when Robin was lord and master, people were out late into the night, laughing, dancing, and eating. Back when things were normal. Back before the crusades, and death, and suffering…

Annie shook her head, clearing her thoughts as a pained whimper caught her attention. She turned her head toward the sound, biting back her own hiss of pain.

It was the Scarlett's cottage.

Annie ground her teeth together as she crept closer to the woodpile just outside the open door. Light poured out of the door and she could make out two dark figures sitting at the table, talking in hushed towns. The third figure was lying on a cot, moaning softly. Annie cupped her hand around her mouth and whistled low; three short tweets and one long drawn out hum. The muttered conversation stopped abruptly and one of the figures turned towards the door, whistling back.

"Will!" the other figure hissed. "What are you doing?"

Will, the oldest son of Dan Scarlett, ignored his father and whistled again; two short, four long.

Annie growled under her throat as the signal for illness reached her ears. Chancing all, she crept a bit closer to the door. She let out one high, shrill whistle.

Will replied with a warbling note.

"Who's out there, son?" Dan asked, sounding wary.

"Annie." Will answered, before letting out a row of rapid-fire fwits.

At that, Annie crawled toward the door, glancing over her shoulder as she passed through it. "Hello, Dan."

The Scarlett patriarch shook his head. "You shouldn't be here. Robin-"

"Robin's not here." Annie snapped, pushing her hood off her head. "Where's Luke? Haven't you any food?"

"No-" Will started to say, but Dan cut him off.

"Anne, you've already lost-"

"There is no need to remind me what I've lost, Dan. I'm well aware of the fact. I'd do it again if I could."

"There's only so much you can lose before you lost your life!"

Annie ignored the older, turning her attention again to the younger.

"Is there no venison left?" she asked Will.

The young man shook his head. "Gisbourne took it all. After the Sherriff-"

Annie cut him off, placing a hand on his shoulder. "I will bring food." She promised. "And water. You and your family will not be punished like this."

"You have no real power, Annie." Dan said, sounding defeated as Luke whimpered again.

"I am Locksley, Dan. Until my brother returns, I am head of his estates as declared by him before he left. Gisbourne is only here so that the Sherriff will not lose face when his peers find that one of his estates is governed by a woman."

She dropped her hand from Will's shoulder. Pulling her hood up again, she went to the door. "Stay low until I return. No sticking your nose out the door."

And she was gone, ducking out the door and prowling back towards the manor.

Dan shook his head in dismay while Will chuckled.

Sir Guy of Gisbourne was asleep.

BANG!

"GISBOURNE!"

He awoke with a jerk, groaning as the sound of someone trying to knock down the chamber door came to his attention.

Insufferable girl. He'd have thought that having her pride crushed and her heart broken would have put her in her place. He was obviously wrong.

"Lady Anne, this is not appropriate behave-"

"I don't care, Thornton. I need to speak with my lord and master. _Now_."

Gisbourne's eyes narrowed as he caught the girl's sarcasm as she said, 'lord and master'. He stood, slipping on his house slippers and his robe before walking to the door and opening it. The girl was standing just outside the door, her hands on her hips and a furious expression on her face.

"Yes." He said, fixing the unruly girl with a glare.

The brat fixed her own glare on him. "Why have you taken the Scarlett's food?"

"You know why."

"I took full responsibility for that. It was my idea. I was punished. Why must you punish them?"

"The Sherriff said-"

"Oh, shut up." She snapped. "Hang the Sherriff. He's a blood-thirsty fool." She turned and walked down the stairs to the kitchens. Gisbourne growled low in his throat and stomped after her.

"Anne, I will not allow you to take food to the peasants. They must be punished."

"For surviving? Oh, you are sick." She began throwing food, potatoes, turnips, sides of dried beef into a basket. "This is my village-"

Gisbourne effectively cut her off by grabbing a shank of hair and twisting her neck to the side. He was pleased to see her insolent green eyes lose a fraction their defiance and fill with tears of pain.

"Listen to me, girl." He whispered, getting right up next to her. "You are nothing. You are no better than the whores wenching around the tavern. Get it through your abnormally thick skull, that this is _my_ village. Not yours."

He twisted her hair tighter, grinning wickedly as she whimpered in pain. "Drop. The. Basket."

"No." Annie growled, half choking. "I will not let you starve my people."

Gisbourne jerked the girl's hair, causing her to stumble and fall to her knees. But still, she did not drop the basket of food. Gisbourne had to admire her spirit, but disobedience would not be tolerated.

He yanked her hair again. This time, the girl yelped and, instead of fighting against his hold as she had been doing, she leaned into it.

"Sir Guy, please."

She was begging now. Good.

"Drop the basket and I'll let you go. "

The girl nodded, setting the basket down. Gisbourne released her. The next thing he knew, the brat had clocked him across the face and socked him in the gut, only to grab the basket and stampede out the door.

Gisbourne growled and stomped back into the manor, yelling at Thornton to get his breakfast ready.

Annie was breathing heavy by the time she came up on the Scarlett's cottage. Though she had not shown it, she had been terrified that Gisbourne would kill her. He'd already proved that he was a ruthless man, and she hadn't wanted to push him to hurt her again.

So, she begged. If only to distract him so that she could make her exit, but still, she had begged. She had never in her life begged for anything.

It was that thought that scared her more than Gisbourne himself.

She shook her head and hopped off the horse, Gisbourne's horse, now that she thought it, and walked toward the cabin, just as Dan and Will walked out.

"How's Luke?" Annie asked, putting on a mask of concern to cover the agitation she still felt.

"Stomach cramps." Dan said, sounding lost. His wife, Jane, had succumbed the same way that Luke was suffering. Starvation.

"I've brought food. Not much, but it will be enough until I can get another stag."

"Annie," Will said, shaking his head. "We can't allow you to risk your life for us. You're nobility and-"

Annie's eyes flashed fire. "Don't you dare say you're not worth it. I have no family. You, and everyone else in this village are my family. I will not see my family treated this way."

"And I will not see you hang for us." Dan said. "Robin set me to look after you before he left and that's what I'm going to do. Now, leave us. And if you come back with a stag from the forest, I will turn you in to the Sherriff myself."

Annie blinked. He had threatened her. The man she looked to as a surrogate father had just threatened to turn her in to the man she feared most in all of Nottingham.

"I'm trying to help you-" Annie said, shaking her head.

"I can't let you hang, Annie. Robin would never forgive me." Dan said, walking to the cottage. "Will, come."

"Will," Annie looked at her friend with a pleading look.

"I'm sorry, Annie," Will said, "but he's right. Go home. Stay safe."

And with that, Will followed his father into the cottage and closed the door, leaving Annie to stand in the yard, tears of hurt and rejection filling her eyes and the horse to eat the bread from that basket she had dropped.

Robin of Locksley was finally home. He and his companion, Much, topped the crest that overlooked the village of Locksley and both sighed a sigh of relief.

"We did it, Master." Much said, hugged his friend. "We're home."

"So, we are, my friend." Robin grinned. He couldn't wait to see his sister and his friends again.

Together, they walked down the hill as fast as they could without running.

They entered the village, the people looking that them as though they could not believe their eyes. Suddenly Robin spotted a familiar face.

"Dan Scarlett!" he exclaimed, hurrying forward and embracing the man.

"Robin! Are you a sight for sore eyes." Dan said. Much noticed him glance to the left nervously.

Will poked his head out the door and saw Robin, his eyes widening comically. "Um, hi."

Robin chuckled. "Hello, Will."

"Father," Will said. "I promised Matilda that I'd thatch that hole in her roof for her."

Dan nodded. "See you later, then."

Will gathered his tools and left, whistling a snappy melody as he went.

Robin shook his head in amusement. "He's grown, Dan. And Luke, I imagine. Where is the lad?"

Dan's eyes instantly filled with worry and he looked down. Robin noticed this and instantly became concerned.

"What is it, Dan?" Robin asked.

"Jane is dead." Dan said, his voice catching.

"No." a heartbroken look appeared on Robin's face. "Not Jane. Your good, strong wife."

Dan nodded. "And Luke is ill."

"Ill, how?" Much asked.

"Pestilence."

"Liar!" an angry female voice snarled from behind Robin and Much. Annie made her appearance, her face twisted in rage. "You are a _liar_, Dan Scarlett! Luke is starving to death and you know it!"

Robin stared in shock at his little sister. The soft-spoken little girl he had known was gone. In her place was this fiery, hellion of a young woman. A stranger.

"Annie, please-" Dan started to say.

"No! Robin is home now. He can make it better!"

"Make what bet-" Robin began, but his voice died away as Annie's head moved, throwing her hair away from the side of her face.

There was a blood, gaping hole where her ear had once been. All that remained of the ear itself was a blackened stub. He looked sickened as he moved forward, reaching out to examine the damage. She flinched away, terror flashing in her eyes so fast, Robin wasn't even sure he'd even seen it.

"Annie, what happened?"

But his sister shook her head. "Not now. My story isn't important right now. I'm not dying."

Right. Robin turned back to Dan. "Is what she says true?"

Dan hesitated, but in the end, he nodded. "Yes."

"Who's starving you?"

"Gisbourne. Sheriff's orders."

Robin shook his head in disbelief. "Edward would not starve anyone, no matter what they did."

"Edward is not the sheriff anymore." Annie said.

Robin shook his head again. "I will right this." He promised. "Luke will not succumb to hunger."

"Robin-"

"I am home now. I am in authority."

Dan nodded. "Bless you, Robin."

"Not at all, my friend." He turned to Much and Annie. "Let's go talk to this Gisbourne."

_Yeah, so I changed the opening dialogue and what happened with the Scarletts to better serve my story. Sue me. But, please don't. I haven't got any money._

_Run, Gisbourne, run! cough Anyway, I hope you liked it. Please leave a review. I like to get constructive criticism. Thanks again for reading!_

_Jenny_


End file.
